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For those of you who come here and are not too familiar with snooker, or for those who'd simply like to know, here's a short history of the game and a description of its rules:

Along with pool, carom and billiards, snooker is a cue sport. It was invented in 1875 at Jabalpur in India, when players in a British regiment combined three previous forms of cue sports (billiards, pyramids and life pool) to make one new game, snooker. Initially, snooker was played only for a rest and to have something different, but soon it became a competitive sport. The first World Championship took place in 1916. The first World Championship for professional snooker players was played in 1927, with Joe Davis becoming World Champion.

Back then, there were only a few professional players, but today the professional circuit comprises more than 300 players. Professional tournaments have been or are played in a variety of countries (UK, Ireland, Malta, China, Thailand, Belgium, Canada, Australia, Germany and others). The tournament season lasts from September to May, with the World Championship being the last and most important tournament of each season.

Snooker is played on a table that is much bigger than the more commonly known pool table, and with more and smaller balls. A snooker table measures 380 x 205 cm, with the actual playing space measuring 360 x 180 cm. It has six pockets, one on each corner and one in the middle of each of its long sides.

There are 15 red balls in snooker, counting one point each, and six balls in other colours with the following points tariff:

There is also a white ball, which is the cue ball. Only the cue ball can be hit with the cue, players are not allowed to hit any other ball with their cue.

At the beginning of each game, all the balls are set up on the table like this:

Snooker is played by two players (or sometimes two teams) who play against each other. The aim is to win a "frame". For the start of a frame, a player has to hit one of the red balls with the white cue ball. If the red ball drops into one of the pockets, the player gets one point and earns the right to aim for one of the coloured balls. If that drops, too, he gets the points for the ball as mentioned above. He then has the right to play a red and a coloured ball in succession for as long as the balls drop into the pockets. If no ball drops, he has to stop and his opponent gets a chance to play.

When a coloured ball is pocketed, it comes back on the table as long as there are still red balls left on the table. When no more red balls are left, the coloured balls have to be pocketed in order of their points tariff. The player with the most points wins the frame, and the player with the most frames wins the match.

Playing a succession of red and coloured balls is called "making a break". The highest possible break in snooker is 147 points, and a break of 100 or more points is considered very good.

I hope you enjoyed this short description of the game of snooker and its rules.

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